records, and algeria has equalled their temperature record with highs of 51 degrees. the big question is, will europe be next? climate change is shifting the odds in favour of heatwave is becoming more frequent. extreme heat waves can become deadly. during the heatwave of 2003 that set the uk temperature record of 38.5 celsius in faversham in kent and the french record of 44.1 celsius, it estimated the extreme heat killed 35,000 people in europe. 0ver people in europe. over the next few days, another concern is that high temperatures could trigger thunderstorms, which may not bring much in the way of rain, but lightning may bring the threat of igniting wildfires. if you are heading to the heat, the advice is to keep out of the midday sun and stay well hydrated. time for a look at the weather. here's helen willets. that is excessively hot, isn't it?

and it is hotting up here, but not to that degree, and also not for all, so a more limited heatwave this time. for the next few days, the highest temperatures hottest weather will be gci’oss temperatures hottest weather will be across the south and east of the uk in the east of wales. we may get 33, certainly the low 30s. it will be a little less hot further north, but still into the high 20s for the likes of north wales and northern england. if you like something a little more bearable, it is scotland and northern ireland, where temperatures were getting to the low 20s and there will still be a good deal of fine and dry weather, the differences where we are pulling our air infrom. differences where we are pulling our air in from. howeverfor all of differences where we are pulling our air in from. however for all of us it will be fairly humid, because we have got wind is coming in off the atla ntic have got wind is coming in off the atlantic with this band of cloud, that gave us quite a lot of rain yesterday evening and overnight, it has weakened today, but it will pick

up has weakened today, but it will pick up again. he endorse it you can see a beautiful shot from our weather watcher, and we will see a lot of sun for the rest of the day across eastern areas, but there is more cloud mulling around in the north. it isa cloud mulling around in the north. it is a little drizzly in some coastal parts of the irish sea for example, so a little cooler here. 25, potentially, east of scotland pushing towards the high 20s in the south and east. as we go through tonight and into friday, we have this weather system wiggling across the country, so it does look like another close night across the uk. this weather front which will bring in rain as we go through tonight and into tomorrow will sit across central areas, so dividing that slightly fresher weather here towards the north, and that slightly hotter weather towards the south. so there will be some splashes of rain, more than today, but actually once that clears away, for scotland and northern ireland, just the odd shower, little cloud for the south and east. saturday is a similar story but without the weather front around, nothing more than the odd

shower, so take your pick. it is dry and bright with good spells of sunshine on offer, just a differential in the temperatures, a little more cloud into the north and west on sunday as well. temperatures very pleasant indeed, but further southis very pleasant indeed, but further south is where we keep that heat, again with some fairweather cloud, no more, just a lot of strong sunshine, even if the temperatures are only in the low 20s. thank you very much. that's all from the bbc news at one. we nowjoined the bbc news at one. we nowjoined the bbc‘s news teams where you are. good afternoon. 1.30pm and here's your latest sports news. after a disappointing batting collapse on day one, bowler sam curran has lifted english spirits on day two of the first test. three wickets from the left armer left india on 76—3 at lunch,

england adding just two runs to their overnight total. patrick gerarey is at edgbaston. curran providing the magic after what had been a frustrating opening hour for england. england brought some current into the attack. he is only 20, he looks about 15, he is in his second test match only, but he penned dj on the pads and it was revised. that was a key moment because a few moments later he got a clean ball and he got

shikhar dawan before lunch. the iraq holy, the england captain, the indian superstar come in at the moment. it is the kind of gloomy, swaying conditions where he has struggled in the past, but he can be very dangerous if he can get away and geta very dangerous if he can get away and get a good start. this first hour after lunch will be key. follow it on test match special or on the bbc website, this test match is beautifully poised. for the moment, many thanks indeed. sale winger chris ashton has been named in the england squad for the first time in two years. ashton ended his contract with the french club toulon early in a bid to return to the premiership with a view to playing international rugby again. he scored 19 tries in 39 tests for england and forms part ofjones's 44 man pre season training squad which meets this weekend. i think he had the idea in his head. he wants to play for england. he seesit

he wants to play for england. he sees it as his last opportunity. we are very pleased he has made that decision and we are looking forward to seeing what he can bring to the table. the women's british open is under way, the fourth major of the year on the women's tour. play got under way at royal lytham and st anne's this morning. yu liu of china leads. bronte law the best of the british so far — in the clubhouse on 2 under par, after a round of 70. ariya jutanugarn is the world number one she's bidding for back—to—back majors after winning the us open. three shots off course leader. highlights are on bbc two later tonight. andy murray says his win against british number one kyle edmund is his best since his return from injury. murray won in three sets against the man who replaced him at the top of the british rankings, to reach the third round of the washington 0pen. rhia chohan reports. sidelined for months after hip

surgery sidelined for months after hip surgery injanuary, sidelined for months after hip surgery in january, down sidelined for months after hip surgery injanuary, down to 832 in world rankings. naturally, andy murray was hoping to make a comeback in the second round at the washington open, taking on british number one kyle edmund. his countryman had beaten him at eastbourne only a few months ago. but this is hard court season and murray was showing signs of recovery. both players held serve in the first set, edmund broke murray to ta ke the first set, edmund broke murray to take a 6—5 lead, but it was the three—time grand slam champion who took it 7—6. edmond won five straight games to take the second set and forced a decider. but this is how all good comebacks go, and murray would not be denied the third. it looked perhaps that edmond was the new one to beat in men's british tennis, but hard court, hard fought. injust british tennis, but hard court, hard fought. in just his fifth match of the year, murray proved he is not done yet. johanna konta is putting a run together. after inflicting the biggest defeat of serena william's career, she beat another american at the silicon valley classic,

sofia kenin, to reach the third round of this tournament she's won before. i'll have more for you in the next hour. thank you very much, john. good afternoon, you are watching bbc news. let's talk more about our main story. as you've been hearing, the bank of england has, this afternoon, raised the interest rate for only the second time in a decade. the rate has risen by 0.25% to 0.75% — the highest level since march 2009. the move will increase the interest costs of more than 3.5 million residential mortgages that have variable or tracker rates. but it will be welcomed by savers who could see a lift in their interest rates over the coming months. speaking after the announcement, the governor of the bank of england, mark carney, said that the monetry policy committee is making the right decision and things are heading in the right direction.

two years ago the uk economy had substantial spare capacity and domestically regenerated inflation was low. business confidence had fallen sharply to levels last seen in the wake of the financial crisis. inflation was expected to overshoot its target entirely because of the sharp drop in sterling which itself reflected the view of financial markets that brexit would bring a large negative shock to uk relative incomes. in these exceptional circumstances the mpc rightly chose to supportjobs circumstances the mpc rightly chose to support jobs and circumstances the mpc rightly chose to supportjobs and activities, while extending the horizon over which inflation returned to target and that strategy has worked. today employment is at a record high, there is very limited spare capacity in the economy and external price pressures a re in the economy and external price pressures are declining. with domestically generated inflation building and the prospect of excess demand emerging, the modest monetary

policy is now appropriate to return inflation to its 2% target and to keep it there. uk growth in the second quarter is estimated to have rebranded as expected, consistent with the mpc buzz myjudgment that the slowdown in the first quarter primarily reflected the weather, not the economic climate. construction output rose in may at its strongest rate in two years, retail sales grew at fastest pace in three years and this has been in line with the committee's expectations. in the mpc‘s latest expectations, uk demand is expected to grow at around its current pace. household consumption is expected to grow at a modest rate, broadly in line with real incomes. we continued support from external demand, limited spare capacity and relatively high rates of return on capital and the low cost of finance, business investment is expected to expand at an annual

rate of 3.5% over the forecast period, a subdued pace relative to past recoveries, reflecting the drag from brexit related uncertainties. mark carney, the governor of the bank of england. mark carney, the governor of the bank of england. and we'll be answering your questions on how the interest rates rise could affect you at half past two this afternoon with the personal finance journalist sarah pennells and the consumer expert jasmine bi rtles. send us your questions and we'll try and answer them. the national citizen service, a government—run youth scheme, is not value for money according to councils in england and northern ireland. the project allows 15—to—17 year olds to spend four weeks working in the community. the local government association says only 12% of eligible teenagers have taken part and it has cost £634 million.

the government insists the scheme has improved the lives of 400,000 young people. the former conservative minister for civil society, rob wilson says the project has come a long way but more still needs to be done to increase the number of teenagers signing up to the scheme. it has built up over the years from a situation where a few thousand would go in each ear, to now where about 100,000 young people are going the year, and that is a significant build—up. however, that is not to say that it is immune from criticism. i am a great supporter of it, i think it makes a big difference to the young people who ta ke difference to the young people who take part, but i have always said not enough young people are taking pa rt not enough young people are taking part and the executive need to do much better on delivering those numbers because they have

underperformed consistently on that. i think that the ncs has over a period of time had a lack of transparency, a lack of accountability, and those are criticisms they need to take on the chin and react to, and i think that they are. new legislation in scotland means that once a doctor has diagnosed someone as terminally ill, they immediately receive the main disability benefit, known as a personal independence payment, rather than waiting to be assessed. in the rest of the uk, only people with six months or less to live are fast—tracked through the system. 0ur northern ireland correspondent, chris page, has been to meet campaigners who are calling for the changes in scotland to be implemented across the uk. everyone agrees that time is precious. but that truth feels much more real if you have an illness which you know you'll die from. that's the message which people like martin want to get across. he has alzheimer's disease. i am on a death sentence.

there is no cure for what i have got, i have had to accept that. so why put me through another load of worry and stress? under the rules of the main disability benefit, people with terminal conditions can get the money quicker than usual without having a face—to—face assessment. but only if they have six months or less to live. martin didn't qualify because the nature of his illness means no one can be sure when he'll die. dementia northern ireland has supported him through the application for the personal independence payment, which he found almost unbearable. it has made me very suicidal, because i didn't need the pressure. i have enough pressure on me with the dementia. i have been through the hospital, i have been through the doctor, so with all the letters and all the scans, so why do they have to come out and visit me? the issue also affects people

with motor neurone disease. colin used to be a principal at special needs school. his terminal illness has taken away his job and his voice, but like martin, his life expectancy is unpredictable, he will have to be re—assessed for the benefit. he spoke to me through an app in his phone. in scotland, the government has brought in new legislation that means a person will be fast tracked through the benefits system simply if a doctor says they are terminally ill. here in northern ireland, all five main political parties say they want the same change

in the rules. this politician has been taking the lead in the campaign. i think that anyone who has any conscience, or who has any heart when they realise this is what people with terminal illnesses are being put through, i think that they would rightly say that this is callous and cruel. the devolved government at stormont collapsed 18 months ago, so at least until devolution is restored, northern ireland will stay in line with the law decided at westminster. the department for work and pensions is trying to ensure that people get the help they need. and they can get automatic access to benefits and have work—related requirements. the labour mp madeleine moon has been proposing her own legislation for england and wales. her husband died from motor neurone disease. the only time you have must not be spent worrying about benefits and accessing benefits or keeping a roof over your head. it must be spent in love,

laughter and taking the painfuljourney together. this deeply personal matter is moving up the political agenda. the people affected say they are going to keep campaigning for as long as time allows. chris page, bbc news, belfast. in a moment we'll have all the business news, but first the headlines on bbc news. the bank of england has announced that interest rates will rise for only the second time in a decade. they'll go up from 0.5% to 0.75%. there are international calls for calm as supporters of zimbabwe's presidential rivals wait for the election results. the average person in this country checks their smartphone every twelve minutes according to a new survey by the media regulator 0fcom. hello, iam rachel

hello, i am rachel horne hello, i am rachel home and the business news. as we've been hearing, the bank of england has raised the interest rate for only the second time in a decade. the rate has risen by 0.25% to 0.75%, the highest level since march 2009. barclays, one of britains biggest banks, has seen their profits hit by £2 billion worth of costs. legal fees and settlements made a serious dent in figures for the first six months of the year, leaving the bank with pre—tax profits of £1.6 billion. boss jes staley called the figures "strong", saying the bank is starting to show "its true potential and value". the future of house of fraser has been thrown into doubt after its potential new owner walked away from a rescue deal. c. banner, which owns the toy store hamley‘s, had planned to take control of the struggling department store chain and inject £70m of cash. but the chinese firm has pulled out. 0.75% — historically that's not

a interest rate that would make headlines but it's been almost ten years since the bank of england base rate moved above half a percent. theoretically the increased base rate will increase the interest costs of more than 3.5 million residential mortgages that have variable or tracker rates. but it should be good news for savers, who could see a lift in their interest rates over the coming months. joining us now is lena komileva, chief economist and managing director at g+ economics. lena, this increase is not a surprise, many were expecting it, but was it the right thing to do? why has the bank of england increased the base rate? well, it has been a split debate for much of the year. on the one hand, the economy looks to be fairly strong, it is growing close to

potential, uk inflation has been above the bank's 2% for some time and the bank confirmed today it expects this will remain the case for the next two years at least. so that gives little reason why the bank should be holding rates at crisis era lows. the other half of the argument, however, is there has been so much uncertainty about the resilience of the economy in the face of global tectonic shifts, in particular trade wars, and concerns and uncertainty about the relationship the uk will have with its biggest trade partner, its biggest source of goods and investment, the eu. and so the bank has been in the very difficult position between these two arguments. what we saw today is essentially a vote of confidence, that the weakness we saw in the first quarter of this year was mostly weather—related rather than related to more intractable issues.

the bank has been cautious in stating that any further removal of accommodation would be gradual and limited. we have had comments from the institute of directors saying the institute of directors saying the bank has jumped the the institute of directors saying the bank hasjumped the gun, the british chambers of commerce saying this is illjudged, it will dampen consumer and business confidence. given the tightness of the labour market and the fact that interest rates are only 0.75% after today's move, it goes some way to explain just how cautious the bank of england has been in the face of uncertainties that industrial lobby groups would suggest. i do not think it will make a big difference at the end of the day. uk gdp growth is expected to be 1.5%, just under this year. inflation is expected to be above 2%. three quarters of a percent in the bank rate is extremely accommodating, said the bank has tweaked a bit of stimulus

and has not taken anything away from businesses. given this rate rise was expected, are we seeing much reaction on the markets or in the value of sterling? we saw quite a mixed reaction and that is partly to do with the fact that we are a month end. the markets are reacting to a lot of stimulus and some of the flow is related to other things. in the first instance we saw a bullish reaction from stirling and rates because the banks signalled it will have to adjust even further ahead for it to maintain its 2% inflation target. in other words, this is not the second hike in the decade and done, it may be more warranted if the economy allows it. and for the first time it expected a terminal rate at the end of this rate cycle and that is somewhere in the rate of 2.596. and that is somewhere in the rate of 2.5%. that is much higher than the

1.596 2.5%. that is much higher than the 1.5% that the banks expect it will be capped at. there are some optimistic sounds from the bank of england, but we also got a very cautious message that much more will depend on how trade and investment and consumer confidence expresses over the next few years until march of next year. thank you very much for your time. and we can look at the markets. the value of sterling surged a little after the interest rate rise was announced, but it is a bit. the markets were expecting this rate rise to come. barclays is down after they took the big knock to their pre—tax profits. i will be back with more in the afternoon. it's 50 years this week

since the end of regular steam train services on the british main line railway. to mark the occasion, steam enthusiasts around the country are being treated to a little bit of railway nostalgia. ricky boletto reports (tx) half a century on, steam trains are still pulling in the crowds. young and old and of the four—legged variety too. there isjust something about a steam engine especially, the noise, the smell, and certainly if you are of an age that you remember them the first time around, just nostalgic, really. i think that they are quite

comforting, it is quite relaxing watching the environment around. i think we just haven't got access to these sorts of things any more. it's a different world. we are obsessed with technology. it is nice to go back and just experience it, especially with children now, i can't imagine what it will be like in the future for them, but we have still got these special treasures that we can hold on to and let them experience. for many, it is a chance to savour a bygone age. riding on the many restored trains, steamed up by an army of volunteers. it is the fact that everybody is coming here, you are meeting lots of lovely people, they are all here to enjoy themselves and that perks you up as well. the birth of the steam locomotive more than 200 years ago changed the world and made britain one of the first industrial countries in the world. and now many of these heritage railways continue to keep britain's golden age of steam alive.

steam is not dead. it is still expanding. there are still steam engines waiting to be restored. there's engines running all over the place. the number of railways that run and the days they do run are getting bigger and bigger, they are turning into bigger commercial activities. why is that? because people want to travel. today there are more 20,000 volunteers all over the uk fuelling their passion for steam. it is hoped the next generation of enthusiasts will keep these trains on the tracks for many more years to come. that is fantastic. i will leave you with a look at the weather prospects. here is helen willetts. temperatures have moved into the high 20s in central and eastern areas and that is warmer than

yesterday. but it has not been the case everywhere. we saw some rain across scotland this morning and we have still got some rain in central parts of the uk with another set coming in. the best of the sunshine in eastern scotland and southern and eastern areas. a bit of fair weather cloud around, but it is low at the irish sea coast and it is misty in places, but still that sunshine prevails in eastern scotland. in the evening we will find more rain in northern ireland and south—west scotland, not heavy rain. by and large it is a fine and dry and hot affair as we large it is a fine and dry and hot affairas we go large it is a fine and dry and hot affair as we go through the rest of the afternoon and into the early evening. with those pulses of rain and that mild south—westerly continuing, it will be another muggy night and we will notice and muddier feel as well compared to the

co mforta ble feel as well compared to the comfortable night last night. as we move into friday that weather front straddles the country and it is the dividing line between that heat and increasingly hot weather in the south—east of the country, compared with fresh air to the north. although there will be some showers in scotland and northern ireland, there will be a lot of fairweather around during friday and it will be quite comfortable. rain across north wales and into northern england at times and perhaps away today at times and perhaps away today at times but not a wash—out. pretty warm even underneath the cloud. possibly 32, hot day in southern and eastern areas. that heat continues over the weekend in the bulk of england. lots of bright and bright weather in northern ireland and scotland, but more bearable temperatures. 0n scotland, but more bearable temperatures. on sunday it looks like we will pick up more rain in the far north—west of scotland, so that will hold the temperatures

down. high 20s further south. as we look further ahead, it looks as if the northern half of the country will keep the cooler but pleasant conditions and hot in the south—east. hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 2. many of our mortgages, loans — and savings — are going up as the bank of england raises interest rates to the highest level since 2009 — it warns they could go up again. employment is at a record high and real wages are picking up, employment is at a record high and realwages are picking up, and external price pressures are declining. want to know how the interest rise could affect you? send us your questions on twitter using the hash tag bbc ask this and we'll try and answer them at 2.30. baby elsie's death could have been prevented — but a review finds that her father — who murdered the 18—month old just weeks after adopting her — had been seen as a "positive parent" addicted to our mobiles: britons now check their phones every 12 minutes

— 0fcom finds the uk in a state of "digital dependency".